OR Tambo – Africa’s busiest airport

New data based on flightsfrom.com for the scheduled daily departures of passenger flights has documented the busiest airports in the world.

In Africa, OR Tambo claimed the top spot with 252 daily scheduled departures. The most popular departing flight from Johannesburg was to Cape Town International, with 38 to 43 flights per day. The most frequent international route from OR Tambo was to Harare, with eight to 11 daily flights. 

Cairo International Airport followed in second place with 236 departing flights every day. South Africa claimed another spot in the top five, with 106 daily flights from Cape Town International, making it the fifth busiest airport in Africa. Addis Ababa Bole International took the third spot with 185 daily flights while Jomo Kenyatta International claimed the fourth position with 121 departing flights each day. 

The top five busiest airports across the rest of the regions according to the number of daily flights departing each day are as follows:

Europe

1. Amsterdam Schiphol Airport - 614
2. Paris-Charles de Gaulle - 540
3. London Heathrow - 534
4. Frankfurt Airport - 519
5. Adolfo Suárez Madrid-Barajas Airport - 506 

North America

1. Dallas Fort Worth International - 886
2. Chicago O’Hare - 842
3. Denver International - 827
4. Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International - 733
5. Charlotte Douglas International - 713

South America

1. El Dorado International Airport - 429
2. São Paulo/Guarulhos International Airport - 259
3. São Paulo/Congonhas Airport - 227
4. Jorge Chavez International Airport - 224
5. Arturo Merino Benitez International Airport - 142

Asia

1. Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport - 702
2. Shanghai Pudong International Airport - 700
3. Istanbul Airport - 673
4. Tokyo International Airport - 639
5. Gandhi International Airport - 617